Leviathan plus Director Q&A
Cert. 12A

The rough Atlantic waters that inspired Melville’s Moby-Dick give rise to a rather different beast in this bracing cinematic voyage into uncharted documentary territory.

Already showered with accolades from festivals around the world, this is, loosely, a study of life aboard a New England fishing boat. But with a host of radically innovative formal devices and a complete lack of narration or meaningful dialogue, it utterly defies the simple label of documentary, instead delivering an incredibly visceral, primal, sensuous representation of seafaring life.

Directors Paravel and Castaing-Taylor have made careers out of blurring the boundaries of non-fiction filmmaking, and here they imbue their footage with a restless, anthropomorphic and highly unsettling quality. Warranting comparisons to works of avant-garde filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage, LEVIATHAN offers a truly unique and intoxicating cinematic experience.